St. Paul is back — and seeking a title this time
The CIAC baseball tournament seedings and schedules were released on Friday. The qualifying games are on Saturday and the first round starts on Tuesday.
Last season’s 2021 Class S runner-up, St. Paul, is the No. 1 seed, while the 2021 Class S champion Coginchaug is eighth. In Class L, Windsor (19-1) grabs the first seed and defending Class L champion Daniel Hand is No. 12 and will face Ellis Tech on Tuesday.
East Catholic won the 2021 Class M championship behind the pitching of Frank Mozzicato, now in the Kansas City Royals’ minor-league system, but is now the No. 28 seed in Class S. Nonnewaug is the No.1 seed of Class M and on Tuesday will face the winner of Cromwell and Weston, which play in a qualifying game on Saturday.
Finally, Xavier is the top seed in Class LL and 2021 Class L champion Norwalk is the No. 25 seed.
Here are five things to watch for:
St. Paul looks to take next step
Last season, the Falcons lost 8-0 to Coginchaug in the Class S championship game. Coach Vic Rinaldi told The Courant earlier this year that his players have not forgotten 2021. “They all remember it. It’s all fresh in their mind, yeah. They want to give themselves an opportunity in the tournament to get back to that spot.”
Now, the 20-0 Falcons get their opportunity. Their first-round game is against (6-11) Terryville, who is the No. 32 seed. The player to watch for St. Paul is Uconn-commit Ryan Daniels. The shortstop is the start of a fearsome senior trio hitting 2-3-4 in the lineup, with Mario Izzo at third and Casey Cerruto fourth.
Windsor comes in hot
Windsor ended its season on an emphatic note with a 14-2 win over the Bloomfield/ Bulkeley/aerospace co-op to capture the CCC North Division title. The Warriors’ only blip during the season was a 4-3 loss to Southington.
The Warriors, on a five-game win streak, could face the No. 4 seed Platt in the semifinals. The Warriors defeated Platt, 13-3, in the regular season. The strength of this Windsor team is the offense, scoring in the double digits in nine their wins.
How far will Drew Kron lead Xavier?
Uconn commit Drew Kron has played a big part in helping 18-2 Xavier land the first seed in Class LL. The Falcons’ only two losses in the regular season have been to No. 2 Amity and No. 27 Greenwich. Xavier is also coming off a loss to Fairfield Prep, 9-4, in the SCC tournament championship.
Kron did his part with a home run against the Jesuits, but ultimately it wasn’t enough. Like Amity and Greenwich, No. 12 seed Fairfield Prep could also wind up facing Xavier at some point in the tournament.
Class LL championship competition is fierce
The chase for the Class LL championship will be highly competitive as there is no clear-cut team above the rest. While Xavier is the first seed they actually have fewer total points (182) than second seed Amity (186). Four teams (Amity, Fairfield Warde, Southington and Newington) have 17-3 records.
Amity was the last of the top five seeds to win a championship when they defeated Fairfield Warde, 4-3. Look for this class to be filled with upsets all throughout the bracket.
East Catholic looks to pull off some tourney magic
One season certainly can make a difference, just ask East Catholic. Last year the Falcons win the Class S title in dominant fashion; this year they finished 8-10 and are the 28th seed. Last season,
But anything is possible come the postseason. One of the few bright spots has been Maryland-commit Alex Irizzary, who has had another solid season at the plate hittng around .350 all season. If he can get hot the Eagles could be a tough out for any team. They open against No. 5 Lyman Memorial.